Tags: Cromwell's Creek, Highbridge, Macomb's Dam Bridge, New York History, Tex Austin Rodeo, Yankee Stadium
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“I said anything could be done in New York, including rodeo. And I proved it.”—Tex Austin
Every time I sit in the nosebleed seats at Yankee Stadium, I laugh at
the placards on the back of every seat that say “Be alert for bats
and/or balls.” Ha, like a bat or foul ball is going to make its way all the way up to the grandstand seating!
I laugh now, but for 10 days in August 1923, just four months after the brand-new Yankee Stadium opened at 161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx, the spectators did need to be alert – but not for bats and balls. It was stray bulls they had to worry about.
Tex Austin Brings His Rodeo to the Bronx
In 1922, American rodeo promoter John Van “Tex” Austin brought his popular western-style rodeo to Madison Square Garden. The inaugural event was such a big success, he needed a bigger venue. So in August 1923, while the New York Yankees were playing out west, Tex Austin brought the west to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
To generate publicity and excitement for the 10-day event, Tex organized a benefit event for Catholic Big Brothers that featured about a dozen cowboys in western garb “riding” cow ponies across the Harlem River. Called the Great Harlem River Swimming Contest, the event attracted 10,000 spectators who loudly cheered on the ponies and cowboys.
The rodeo officially opened at 3 p.m. on August 15. Almost overnight,
Yankee Stadium had been transformed into the Wild West. About 900 hands
of livestock were corralled under the stadium grandstands. And a huge,
100,000 square foot mat made of cocoa and weighing 58 tons was pegged
down with iron spikes over the infield and part of the outfield in order
to protect the ground from the cloven hooves. The running track was
widened to accommodate relay races on horseback, and 30 enormous flood
lights were perched on the roof for night events (lights and night games
didn’t come to Yankee Stadium until May 28, 1946!).
The rodeo featured almost 200 contests, including bronco riding, steer wrestling, cow roping, cowgirl trick and fancy riding, relay races, bareback bronco riding, and more. Just over 100 cowboys and cowgirls competed for $50,000 in prize money, and thousands of spectators paid $2 or $3 to watch all the action.
Be Alert for Foul Bulls
As Time magazine noted on August 20, 1923, “At bronk riding and steer bull-dogging [events], contestants are frequently seriously injured, occasionally killed. Tex Austin imports from the West and Southwest steers and broncos selected especially for their lack of amiability.” In other words, foul bulls.
Speaking to the New York press before the rodeo began, Tex Austin
explained that the contestants could ride whatever they pleased at the
event — including the subway if they found the horses and steers too
tame. I think some of the cowboys and cowgirls should have stuck to the
subway.
Each day of the event, the New York newspapers reported on the numerous mishaps at the stadium. Ruth Wheat was thrown and trampled by her horse; Frank Studenick broke his arm when he was thrown from his horse (they both came back to compete the next day). Buford B. Polk was thrown during the steer riding competition and was taken, unconscious, to Fordham Hospital with a fractured skull. Earl Thode was kicked in the spine by a steer and taken to Harlem Hospital; Floyd Schilling was thrown from a bucking bronco and went to Lincoln Hospital with two broken arms. You get the idea.
Numerous spectators were also injured — or, at least, almost
frightened to death — when several bulls decided to make their way into
the stands. One steer went on a rampage and headed into the lower
left-field seats, causing people to run for their lives (some cowboys
had to jump over seats to catch the animal). And two steers took off
into the right-field bleacher seats — it took 12 men to capture them.
A Brahma Steer Goes Wild
A few days after the rodeo ended, a convoy of motor trucks began transporting the livestock from the stadium to the railroad yards at 152nd Street. One particularly brazen Brahma steer who apparently did not want to leave the big city jumped from the vehicle and made a mad dash through Macomb’s Dam Park.
Pursued by rodeo cowboys on horseback and several policemen in commandeered taxi cabs, the steer ran north on Sedgwick Avenue to Jerome Avenue. There, it struck Mrs. Mary Merrill of 407 East 136th Street. Mrs. Merrill was not injured, but the steer quickly met his demise when Patrolman Powers of the Highbridge Station shot him in the head from a moving taxi cab. (And we thought the 1970s were dangerous times!)
Yankee Stadium: From Swampland to Cathedral
Although it would be astounding to see a bull running down Jerome Avenue today, in 1923 the Highbridge (formerly Highbridgeville) neighborhood of the Bronx was still quite rural and mostly farmland. Here’s a quick visual history of the 10 acres of hollowed ground that the American Baseball League delegates chose for Yankee Stadium – the Cathedral of Baseball – in February 1921:
Click here for a month-by-month photo collage of the construction of Yankee Stadium, starting February 11, 1921.
Frank McCarroll steer wrestling at Tex Austin’s rodeo, Yankee Stadium, 1923. From the Collection of P. Gavan
I laugh now, but for 10 days in August 1923, just four months after the brand-new Yankee Stadium opened at 161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx, the spectators did need to be alert – but not for bats and balls. It was stray bulls they had to worry about.
Bryan
Roach of Fort Worth, Texas, came in third place in the Great Harlem
River Swimming Contest. The other contestants were Charles Aldrich,
“Red” McDonald, Tony Pagano, Joe Bell, Bill Hurley, Jack Rogers, Roy
Kivett, John McDonald, Tim Carmine, Bill Getz, Ed McCarthy and Verne
Elliot.
Tex Austin Brings His Rodeo to the Bronx
In 1922, American rodeo promoter John Van “Tex” Austin brought his popular western-style rodeo to Madison Square Garden. The inaugural event was such a big success, he needed a bigger venue. So in August 1923, while the New York Yankees were playing out west, Tex Austin brought the west to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
To generate publicity and excitement for the 10-day event, Tex organized a benefit event for Catholic Big Brothers that featured about a dozen cowboys in western garb “riding” cow ponies across the Harlem River. Called the Great Harlem River Swimming Contest, the event attracted 10,000 spectators who loudly cheered on the ponies and cowboys.
Tony
Pagano won $300 in the Great Harlem River Swimming Contest. To ensure
safety at the event, Commander Edward F. Otto of the Orchard Beach Life
Saving Station was on hand with 27 men equipped with life rings and
Pulmotor artificial respiration devices.
The rodeo featured almost 200 contests, including bronco riding, steer wrestling, cow roping, cowgirl trick and fancy riding, relay races, bareback bronco riding, and more. Just over 100 cowboys and cowgirls competed for $50,000 in prize money, and thousands of spectators paid $2 or $3 to watch all the action.
Ruth
Roach, the wife of Bryan Roach pictured above, was one of many cowgirls
to compete for prize money in the rodeo at Yankee Stadium. “Western girls are at home in the saddle as New York girls are in a subway seat.” —Evening Telegram, August 12, 1923
As Time magazine noted on August 20, 1923, “At bronk riding and steer bull-dogging [events], contestants are frequently seriously injured, occasionally killed. Tex Austin imports from the West and Southwest steers and broncos selected especially for their lack of amiability.” In other words, foul bulls.
Eddie Steidler is thrown from his horse during Tex Austin’s rodeo at Yankee Stadium in 1923.
Each day of the event, the New York newspapers reported on the numerous mishaps at the stadium. Ruth Wheat was thrown and trampled by her horse; Frank Studenick broke his arm when he was thrown from his horse (they both came back to compete the next day). Buford B. Polk was thrown during the steer riding competition and was taken, unconscious, to Fordham Hospital with a fractured skull. Earl Thode was kicked in the spine by a steer and taken to Harlem Hospital; Floyd Schilling was thrown from a bucking bronco and went to Lincoln Hospital with two broken arms. You get the idea.
Wooden promotional poster for the rodeo.
A Brahma Steer Goes Wild
A few days after the rodeo ended, a convoy of motor trucks began transporting the livestock from the stadium to the railroad yards at 152nd Street. One particularly brazen Brahma steer who apparently did not want to leave the big city jumped from the vehicle and made a mad dash through Macomb’s Dam Park.
Pursued by rodeo cowboys on horseback and several policemen in commandeered taxi cabs, the steer ran north on Sedgwick Avenue to Jerome Avenue. There, it struck Mrs. Mary Merrill of 407 East 136th Street. Mrs. Merrill was not injured, but the steer quickly met his demise when Patrolman Powers of the Highbridge Station shot him in the head from a moving taxi cab. (And we thought the 1970s were dangerous times!)
This
circa 1923 photo provides a rare aerial view of Yankee Stadium,
Macomb’s Dam Park, and the Polo Grounds across the Harlem River. It was
along these dusty dirt streets that the Tex Austin rodeo steer led
cowboys and police on a wild chase.
Although it would be astounding to see a bull running down Jerome Avenue today, in 1923 the Highbridge (formerly Highbridgeville) neighborhood of the Bronx was still quite rural and mostly farmland. Here’s a quick visual history of the 10 acres of hollowed ground that the American Baseball League delegates chose for Yankee Stadium – the Cathedral of Baseball – in February 1921:
On
August 3, 1639, the West India Company received from native tribes a
tract of land between the Kil and Great Kil (Harlem and Hudson rivers),
which they called Keskeskeck. From this tract, Daniel Turneur was
granted 81 acres bounded by the Harlem River and Cromwell’s Creek, and
comprising the high lands of Devoe’s Point near today’s Macombs Dam
Bridge (Frederick Devoe was a descendent of Turneur’s daughter.) About
1,900 acres of land to the east of Cromwell’s Creek was granted to
Colonel Lewis Morris in 1676.
The
site of the original Yankee Stadium was once swampland along Cromwell’s
Creek, a popular spot for fishing, swimming, and ice skating in the
1800s. Cromwell’s Creek, shown in this 1879 map, was named for the
descendants of John Cromwell, a nephew of Lord Protector Oliver
Cromwell. In the late 1700s, James Cromwell used the waters of the creek
to propel his mill.
In
1813, Robert Macomb constructed a dam across the Harlem River for his
mill on Devoe’s Point (his toll bridge opened in 1816). Although the
state required Macomb to operate a lock to keep navigation open, only
small boats could pass through the 7 x7 foot lock. In 1838, Lewis G.
Morris and irate residents along the riverbank paid a coal barge crew to
break through the dam with axes. Charges were filed, but the court
declared Macomb’s dam a “public nuisance” (Renwick v. Morris). The
Central Bridge opened in 1861 and was replaced by the current Macombs Dam Bridge in 1895.
In
the 1800s, Highbridge was a popular destination for tourists and
sporting men who traveled to the area by Harlem River steamers. The town
had numerous wood-frame road houses and eateries, like George A.
Huber’s Hotel and Casino (formerly Judge Smith’s road-house tavern) at
Jerome and 162nd Street and Cedar Jack’s Last Stand Clam Bar along
Cromwell’s Creek at 161st Street (shown here), which was run by John
Burns. There was also Schumacher’s Saloon at 161st and River Avenue,
which was the exact spot of the 1923 Yankee Stadium.
On
April 21, 1880, William H. Morris and his wife conveyed about 500 lots
to John Jacob Astor for $437,983. The lots comprised about 140 acres
plus water rights, and were bounded by Mott Avenue, Cromwell’s Creek,
Central Avenue (Jerome Avenue), 155th and 167th Street. The Astor’s had
many tenants, including coal dealers John M. Tierney, William F. Porter,
and Carrie T. Porter (Tierney & Porter), who opened shop at 161st
Street and Jerome Avenue along Cromwell’s Creek in 1888, and Clifford L.
Miller & Co., a brick and cement manufacturer, who began operating
on this site in 1891. New York Public Library Digital Collection
By
the late 1800s, the city had begun allowing contractors to dump dirt,
boulders, and other excavated materials from building sites into
Cromwell’s Creek in order to cover it over. For example, in 1902, when
the rapid transit tunnel at Morris Avenue and 149th Street was
excavated, all the stones and dirt was dumped into the creek. By about
1905, much of it was covered over; Macombs Dam Park (green) was in use
by local ball clubs like the Unions of Morrisania and the empty lot to
its west was awaiting something big.
In
1903, American Baseball League delegates began looking at a swampy
piece of land owned by the Astor estate. It wasn’t until February 1921
that the owners of the New York American League Baseball Club, Jacob
Rupert and Tillinghast l’Hommedieu Huston, announced that they had
selected a location for the future home of the Yankees — a
garbage-strewn 10-acre plot between 161st Street and 157th Street at
River Avenue that was currently being used as a lumberyard. The owner
paid $675,000 for the lot and the lumberyard was demolished. The rest,
they say, is history. Brooklyn County Historical Society
Taxis line up in front of Yankee Stadium during its inaugural season in 1923.
